Does depression hurt racing, workouts?

It takes a lot away from performance. It can easily turn into a spiral-effect where you feel down and have a bad race which makes you feel worse and thus run even more poorly.

If you feel like you are truly depressed I would suggest not worrying about performance or training and trying to get your life back together. Prioritize your life and figure out the things that matter to you the most, then distribute your focus accordingly.

Notice I said not to worry about "performance." Running (not racing or training) can be a very effective coping mechanism. I had a rough senior year in high school and whenever I felt like I just couldn't deal with stuff anymore I put on my running clothes and headed out the door. In the long run (no pun intended) all that extra mileage can actually help your performance...you just gotta get out of that funk first.

Since depression is not necessarily a material disease, it's impossible to determine how much "it" detracts from performance. Depression is largely or completely subjective and is not something like anemia that can be identified and measured.

yeah...get that checked out.....running is as much mental as it is physical....if you can't get yourself mentally ready to race, you're done

Running = endorphins

Endorphins= happy

seriously, keep it up. Make exercise a priority, don't dismiss it if it makes you happy.

I've been through it but I got on some meds about a year and a half ago. It hurt my performance by the fact that I just stopped running them...races, workouts, and regular runs all together. If you're serious about and not just being a teenage dramaqueen get some help.

MegaZord wrote:

I've been through it but I got on some meds about a year and a half ago. It hurt my performance by the fact that I just stopped running them...races, workouts, and regular runs all together. If you're serious about and not just being a teenage dramaqueen get some help.

I am in no way knocking medications. I'm a firm believer in medication and think they truly help people, but I also think they are way overprescribed in this country. This kid needs to try to cope with it first and go to the doctor as a last resort. High school can be a tough and trying time but if you can get through it all and be happy in the end, you'll be so much stronger because of it.

Everyone has bad days, weeks, and even months. I'm not trying to take anything away from your situation, all I'm saying is people before you have gotten through it and people after you will get through it too. If you find the right coping mechanism, you will get through it as well. Running, reading, biking, friends, shopping, weightlifting, etc. can all be as effective as any medication.

I was pretty depressed much of last year and also ran some of my worst times, which made snapping out of my depression nearly impossible. Once I stopped running for a few weeks and found out how to be happy, my perforamances GREATLY improved. This has lead me to wonder exactly how much of running is mental. I've talked to several different foreign runners (including a Kenyan if that is significant), and they've told me the body will not perform if the mind doesn't believe in the training.

vitamins and minerals wrote:

the body will not perform if the mind doesn't believe in the training.

I like it.

I found the opposite of what many here are saying. I used running as an outlet and ended up training a hell of a lot harder than I ever had before. I also stopped caring about the physical pain of workouts and races as much and I could run myself into the ground without really caring too much about it or feeling like I should slow down because I was hurting physically. I ended up coming out of a bout of depression in the best shape of my life.

who cares?

kato wrote:

who cares?

I'm guessing the guy whose question I was answering cares. Why do you ask?

Well... wrote:

Everyone has bad days, weeks, and even months. I'm not trying to take anything away from your situation, all I'm saying is people before you have gotten through it and people after you will get through it too. If you find the right coping mechanism, you will get through it as well. Running, reading, biking, friends, shopping, weightlifting, etc. can all be as effective as any medication.

Agreed sometimes there is more to it than pills I should probably have mentioned that I sought out a professional therapist as well. In my case however I needed a chemical change to occur. If the kid isn't just whining and he is for real he may need a little more help. I don't know if you have ever been "depressed" but often you cannot simply sit down with a book and brush it off because you can't focus your mind and you don't want to.

marijuologist wrote:

Since depression is not necessarily a material disease, it's impossible to determine how much "it" detracts from performance. Depression is largely or completely subjective and is not something like anemia that can be identified and measured.

B.S.

ive been in kinda similar situation. the best thing to do is not care overly much about your running. treat it seriously and be always focused on your goals. but dont make it any bigger than it needs to be. if you dont wanna run one day dont beat yourself up about it. run the next day or whenever you feel like it. and remember depression isnt usually something you can click in and out of, you gotta change some things and find out whats important to you before you're gonna get over it, also be positive with everything you do. or try to be positive.

YES it messes with it big time

I recently started training properly for the first time in 13 years as a result of / to combat depression. It helped me out a lot when I was in my late teens and early twenties and I really should have started last summer when I was at a really low ebb, but left it until the beginning of the year.

I'm feeling so much better. There's a joy watching the flab melt away, the distances and pace slowly increasing. Some kind of self-worth mechanism probably. Also a good way of getting some 'me' time and thinking about running rather than what ever it is that's eating you up.

I'd get out there and run and don't worry about the workouts and racing; there is a danger of obsessing, try to avoid this.

You have to clarify whether you are depressed, as in depressed like many teenagers, or clinically depressed, which is much deeper and serious.

I was clinically depresssed, and it caused me to fall off the back end of my college team, and ruin my GPA, which I don't recommend.

I found a good psychiatrist. She did not put me on any medication, even though I begged her to a couple times. Doctors go to medical school and can tell when there is something that needs to be corrected chemically, and when psychotherapy will work great by itself.

If you need a good therapist, try to get to a teaching hospital that is affiliated with a medical school. You can get affordable rates on a sliding scale with good oversight from the medical school professors. That's what I did.

Don't see a social worker who calls herself a psychotherapist because you won't get good help. Social worker often have only one or two classes in psychotherapy before they hang out their shingle. Psychologists must get a PhD in clinical psyche before they're qualified (which is more training than social workers get). Psychiatrists are MDs that have graduated medical school and (at teaching hospitals) are in residencys or fellowships specializing in psychiatry.

Getting the blues is very common, but if you have clinical depression, get help. Get your life back on track.

And as stated by someone else above, running will help in your treatment and recovery. Also, do not drink. Alcohol is a depressent which will always make things worse.